Pain and Self Love

The concept of self love sounds warm and cozy. However when self love means abstinence it can be quite painful.

Pampering yourself with massages, listening to music, going to the beach and enjoying life are obvious forms of self love. On a deeper level self love is having the discipline to abstain from harmful things that feel good.

My first serious test of self love came when I decided to abstain from processed sugary foods. Growing up vegan didn’t mean I was healthy as I would eat sugary processed snacks each day. For years I polluted my body and became very attached to these foods. My eating was not for hunger but to satisfy my spoiled senses. The sugar controlled my mood and I wasn’t happy without it. All along I knew the harm it was doing and as the years passed it became more obvious. I had to make a decision to stop eating this poison or at least reduce my intake by 95% It took me years to stop living off sugary food and it took me years to come to the realization that self love sometimes means enduring discomfort. Discipline and self love are inseparable. Discipline means doing something that’s good for you even though it makes you feel uncomfortable. And believe me breaking my addiction to harmful foods was painful.

Always remember that being kind to yourself doesn’t always produce instant gratification. Sometimes it means restraining yourself from something that causes instant gratification to gain greater power later on. We all have had things and people in our lives that make us feel good without being good for us. It is important to develop a self love that helps us abstain from unhealthy pleasures and not only focus on self love that makes us feel good in the moment.